It was a night when the Anfield focus should have returned to the football, and indeed to the return of the real Andy Carroll.

Instead, Liverpool’s hellish week, which everyone thought couldn’t get any worse, did just that thanks the actions of two idiots who, it is claimed by several eye-witnesses, shamed their club and the work they have done in combating terrace abuse.

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Oldham manager Paul Dickov summed it up best afterwards, when he admitted his disgust that he couldn’t speak about the heroic efforts of his side for so long in what was an outstanding, old fashioned FA Cup tie.

The League One minnows played above themselves so bravely and for so long, that there was a real chance of a major shock on the agenda. Instead, we got a terrible shock of a different kind.

It is a shame for Oldham, a shame for Tom Adeyemi, who was one of their best players on a fine night of football, and a shame for Liverpool, given that people will now undoubtedly point the finger at them for the ridiculous actions of two moronic individuals.

The incident happened 10 minutes from time, and from that moment little else mattered other than the shock on the face of Oldham’s young defender, and indeed of Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard and his team-mate Dirk Kuyt.

By then, the visiting side’s romantic story was over anyway, but it was a terrible end to an otherwise terrific evening, in which Oldham took the lead, and were denied only by the sheer class of Gerrard and the livewire Craig Bellamy.

How Carroll must be cursing too.

He appeared as a late substitute, and produced the sort of goal that prompted Liverpool to pay a record £35million fee for him in the first place.

It was a glimpse of the real Carroll, and a glimpse of what might be as he prepares to become the focal point to the Reds attack in the absence of the suspended Luis Suarez.

Carroll had only been on the pitch for two minutes when he turned outside the box and lashed a delicious left foot shot into the far corner, in the sort of style he made a trademark at Newcastle, to give Liverpool an emphatic fourth goal that Oldham barely deserved.

And to pile even more misery on them, Stewart Downing rounded out the night with a fifth goal in stoppage time, when he found himself in the right place at the far post to convert a rebound when fellow sub John Flanagan’s shot was blocked.

It was almost too much to bear for the plucky visitors, who had performed magnificently until those horrific final 10 minutes - and thought they had written another glorious chapter in this great competition’s illustrious history when they took the lead on 28 minutes through the effervescent Robbie Simpson.

It was a remarkable performance from the League One side, to bely their position some 50-odd places below their rivals.

They showed no fear as they dared to take the game to Liverpool, and stun them with that astonishing opening goal.

The home side can hardly say they weren’t warned either, because Dickov’s gallant team created three outstanding chances before their fourth produced, for a few seconds, a seismic shock in the making.

As early as the 10th minute, that mountain of a man Shefki Kuqi bulldozed his way through challenges with Sebastian Coates and Jamie Carragher to find himself in front of goal, but he blazed his shot wide when he probably should have scored.

Soon after, on-loan Norwich defender Adeyemi found himself flying into the box unchallenged to get on the end of Simpson’s corner, and how his header didn’t go in is still a mystery.

Simpson was a dynamic presence in the Oldham side all night, and he combined with the young right back to find himself in front of goal on 23 minutes, only to toe poke his right foot shot wide when – as he illustrated soon after – his left was clearly a better option.

The striker claimed a little bit of history and enjoyed a moment that will stay with him for the rest of his life, when he did rather better with his next chance on 28 minutes.

There seemed little danger when he turned onto a gentle midfield ball from James Wesolowski, but Liverpool backed off too far, and he smashed the bouncing ball into the far corner to embarrass Pepe Reina.

Tragically for Oldham, their fairytale ran out before the remaining minutes of the game, in fact, it was over before half time, which was a shame given their adventure and spirit throughout the tie.

They deserved their moment of glory, and perhaps to bask in it a little longer than the two measly minutes Liverpool allowed before levelling.

Mind you, it was some goal from the livewire Bellamy, who has been one of the Reds’ players of the season so far.

As Jonjo Shelvey took the ball on the left and cut inside to shoot, Bellamy somehow stooped to get his head onto the ball and divert it into the corner, with a stroke of genius.

Oldham refused to submit, and pushed themselves forward yet more, but on the stroke of half time their dream seemed to have died, when Liverpool claimed a soft penalty after Maxi went down under Adeyemi’s push from Gerrard’s cross, with Dickov claiming later “it was a joke”.

After four Reds have missed from the spot this season, it was no surprise to see the skipper taking responsibility, and he smashed the pen into the roof of the net via the crossbar to ease Anfield nerves.

Even then, Simpson and Adeyemi both came close as Oldham rallied after the break, and it was only when Liverpool’s exciting young midfielder Jonjo Shelvey finished brilliantly after more excellent work from Bellamy that their night was done.

If only they could have left on that note, instead of the harrowing one offered from the terraces.